Another minor raped in Bhandara district

Forensic report ruled out rape in case of three sisters’ murder: police official

Even as members of the Rajya Sabha discuss and express anguish over the rape and murder of three sisters near Murmadi village in Lakhani tehsil of Bhandara district, the police have arrested a 22-year-old man for sexually assaulting a nine-year-old at Vadad village of Sakoli tehsil in the district.

According to the station house officer of Sakoli, the girl is from Gondia district and had come to Vadad to attend a marriage ceremony.

The accused, Anmol Dhanraj Uike, allegedly took the girl to a nearby house and sexually assaulted her. When the incident came to light, the family members of the girl thrashed the accused and informed the police. He was admitted to the Bhandara city hospital.

The accused was on Thursday booked under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code, said the Sakoli SHO.

Meanwhile, the police have been able to make little headway, despite questioning over 100 people in nearby villages, in the probe into the rape and murder of three sisters.

Bhandara Superintendent of Police (SP) Arati Singh gave rise to confusion over the rape-murder when she told the Gram Sabha of Lakhani on Thursday, that the first forensic report contradicted the post-mortem report, which said that the three girls were raped before being killed.

“She said the forensic report ruled out rape but when the villagers questioned her why the police registered a case of rape, she made a turnaround and said that the chances of rape are fifty-fifty,” advocate Bharat Ghabane told The Hindu.

According to the police, the forensic report is silent on the cause of death of the sisters — aged 11, 8 and 6 — whose bodies were found in a well near Murmadi village.

Meanwhile, VIPs continued to visit the family, with Aditya Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray paying them a call on Thursday.